First 48 hours.

We were here for less than 48 hours when Nicholas was stung by a jelly fish.  We went to the beach to celebrate Caroline's birthday with the Forresters and a picnic dinner.  As were getting ready to pack up and head home, Nicholas comes screaming out of the water and tells us he was stung by a jelly fish.  It stung really bad for several hours. Here are some pictures of what his leg looked like at first--bright red rash that went away in about 2 days.  The other two pictures are of the rash that appeared a week later and is still here.

Many of you have asked.....

Many of you have asked for some pictures.  Here are three.  The first one is a picture of our new home.  The second one is a picture across the street from our house.  Nick loves this picture because it has a sign in front of the pond that says "Do Not Feed the Alligators!" The third picture is the view 15 minutes down the road.  I will try to have more updates soon.  We are very blessed!

5th Grade Banquet

Every year, Nicholas' school has a banquet to honor all of the graduating 5th graders. It was a beautiful evening highlighted with the entire 5th grade singing, and a video of each 5th grader speaking about what their school meant to them. Nicholas stole the video-show, going on and on about his time. What a ham! Here are some photos from the evening...

I've Got Friends in...New Places!

The 'Holland Happenings' will soon be broadcast from a new locale, moving from our Memphis area location to our new, jaw-dropping, pinch-yourself-so-you-can-believe-it location - South Carolina!  Nick is the new Assistant Director of Bands/Director of Athletic Bands at Charleston Southern University, a small Baptist university in Charleston. We'll blog more on that later, but in the meantime, on to the children!


Nicholas, being the huge fish in a modest pond here in Memphis, is naturally reluctant, hesitant, even reticent to move...okay, downright not into it...BUT, Nick's new boss Marshall (and old friend from UNCG and TN) has 3 children: a freshman in HS, a rising 6th grader (just like Nicholas), and a rising 3rd grader (just like Caroline)!  Isn't God too much?!?

Then, there's Caroline...our little entertainer, bring-the-sunshine-along-with-you, if-there's-not-a-party-then-start-one gal! She's a little bit sad to leave her friends, and her beloved teacher and school, but she is SO excited to be living near the beach!  Caroline and her new pal Katie discovered they already have 104 things in common...(and counting)!

We were in SC house-hunting the week of Nick's birthday, and we celebrated with Marshall and his family over dinner, and here are a couple of shots of the new BFFs...

Caroline & Katie

Andrew & Nicholas

We can't wait for these guys to hang out some more, and for Nicholas & Caroline to make new friends. We are so excited about our new locale!

Baseball for everyone!

Okay, not really...Karen's not playing baseball, and I'm actually playing softball!  Nicholas & Caroline are playing baseball with our church, and having a blast!  Caroline is actually a pretty good hitter - she had a hit in each of her first three games. Their practices lately have been 'optional for extra batting practice'...Caroline's response to that was, "Well, I am the best batter on the team, so I don't need to go..." Ha!

 



 




Nicholas has enjoyed his return to baseball after a few seasons away from it; he's back to pitching (their #1 guy), and one of the best batters.  Here's a line for you...in his last game, he threw a no-hitter, allowed 2 unearned runs (1 hit batter and 1 walk came around to score). He walked 3, and struck out 8 (3 looking). He went 1 for 2 with a strikeout and a homerun. Yep, having a good time in his return to baseball! 


I'm having a great time playing softball again - I haven't played in many years, and it's a blast! We didn't have a practice, so I didn't have very high hopes for us...I show up for our first game and I'm surrounded by guys that play year-round in various competitive leagues! Yikes! I'm the guy that everyone tolerates (translation, the worst guy on the team!)...they are good guys, and enjoying jawing with each other. One of they guys I knew from our men's ministry already, which made it even better.

Look what I found....

One rainy winter Saturday, while I was busy doing something in another part of our house, this was created on our kitchen counter.  A sweet gift from Nicholas....oh! how I love that boy!

Happy Birthday Olivia!!

Just wanted to send out a shout to our niece (and cousin for Nicholas and Caroline) Olivia!  She is 7 today!  Miss you sweet girl and wish we could be there!